Andromeda Jackson
by ThePaintedPegasus
Summary: What happens to our favorite heroes when they grow up? How does being a hero's kid change your average day? Well Andromeda has all those answers and more.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first fan-fiction so please don't judge it to harshly it is, after all, meant to be fun. **

"Andromeda!" My mother yells up the stairs for the umpteenth time. "This is the last time I'm yelling up! If you aren't dressed and ready by the time your father gets home THERE WILL BE CONSIQUENCES!"

I let out the loudest groan I can muster, so she can hear me. I roll over and punch my wailing alarm clock; I catch a glimpse of the bright green numbers before it falls. Nearly 7 O'clock.

"Damn." I mutter rolling out of bed, my foot gets tangled in the bright wave patterned sheets and I fall with a muffled crash. I lay on my back trying to look pathetic and maybe injured, yeah injured would be good, something bad enough to make her homeschool me or something. But nobody comes up to make sure that poor Annie is still alive. I guess it's not really a surprise considering this is how a normal morning goes at the Jackson household.

I sigh and pick myself up off the floor guiltily remembering the promise to my Dad. Yawning and bleary eyed I hunt around the room for something to wear; conveniently pretending my mother's chosen outfit doesn't exist. I end up wearing a faded T-shirt that was at one point probably black, now it's a soft charcoal gray. I pull on a semi-clean pair of shorts and shove my feet into a pair of old high tops.

"Annie! Get your sorry behind down here now!" I sigh and head down stairs. Our old two story beach house isn't exactly the picture of glamour; the main floor consists of my parent's room, Luke's small room and a kitchen type area that doubles as a dining room, and a living room. Our house also has, what we call the second floor, an attic type loft, it's been my room since I can remember. A set of the weirdest rickety stairs leads up to them going right over the tiny closet of a bathroom. There is a homey loved quality to it despite the obvious madness; my mother fell in love with it because of the high cathedral ceilings and all the arches and detailed woodwork.

"Oh good your finally up." My mom has time to say as she nearly runs into me. She somehow manages to steady me, with the hand that isn't balancing Lizzie on her hip, and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. She somehow always manages to pull off twenty different things at once. She isn't actually dressed yet, which is weird for her on a Monday until I see the multiple blueprints and charts strewn across our dining room table.

"Working from home I see." I say dodging around Luke and snatching a bagel off the counter in one motion.

"Oh shoot!" She snaps and shoves Lizzie at me, and since Lizzie is only two she babbles enthusiastically and makes a grab for my hair.

"No-no, Lizzie." I say quickly blocking her little fingers. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not ready yet!" My mother yelps rushing off to her room. I stifle a giggle and settle Lizzie in her highchair.

"Luke sit down!" I growl and he does. I open cabinets and pull out several boxes of cereal and a couple bowls. I manage to add a carton of milk to the top of my stack before heading back to the table.

I can hear the banging of drawers and my mom's voice echoing down the hall, she's probably talking to someone at work. I am shocked back to the table by a handful of cheerios. Lizzie laughs happily as I shake them out of my hair.

"Liz that was bad, very bad." I try for the low dangerous tone my mom uses but it doesn't quite come out right.

"Annie I don't have a spoon!" Luke whines. It's true I didn't give him a spoon since the drawer was empty and the dishwasher grumbling.

"Be creative."

Sadly his idea of creative is to slurp the milk out of the bowl and dump half of it down his front. He shrieks excitedly and stands up, bumping the table in the process and dumping the open carton of milk across the table. It swirls across the table into my lap and all over the floor.

"Luke sit down!" I yell standing up to get the roll of paper towel. A chuckle fills the room and the world seems to set itself right again.

"Hey dad!" I say sheepishly turning around, thinking about the lovely picture we just painted. Luke's new school clothes are covered in milk along with most of the kitchen. While Lizzie escaped from her kid chair, again, and is crawling across the table.

"I see you made breakfast." He says very seriously, but with a slight twinkle in his green eyes.

"Would you believe me if I said mom did it?"

He shakes his head and a smile breaks through.

"Go change I'll clean this up." He says considering the disaster area we created. I almost hug him, but think better of it since I am covered in milk.

"Come on Luke." I say and he bounds gleefully after me. The little twerp probably did it on purpose to get out of wearing his new clothes. A lot of morning accidents seem to happen at the beginning of the school year, it probably has something to do with my mom's ides of nice school clothes. Luke, the kid who lives in his underwear all summer, was outfitted in a polo shirt and khaki pants. I grab a towel from the bathroom and help Luke clean up before sending him to his room to put on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. I bolt for my room when the hall clock reads 7:15. The Grace's would be here any minute. I strip down and throw on the only clean clothes in my room, the mom clothes. The outfit she chose for me consists of the only nice pair of jeans I own, they're only nice because I can't stand to wear them, and a pale green tank top with a sweater. She even set out a pair of silver flats, ugh.

I have to admit it would look nice, on my mom. She has long blond hair that always curls perfectly even when she isn't trying to make it look nice, perfectly tanned skin, big gray eyes and a runner's athletic body. I know how the other moms talk about her, they think she's perfect and they're right. I just wish I could have inherited a little more of that.

Instead I favor my father, which means I get the mess of black hair that refuses to be tamed in any reasonable fashion, wild green eyes and of course a troublemakers smile. My dad claims I got the good end of the bargain and that I should appreciate all the daring good looks he passed along. Luke and Elizabeth are perfect copies of our mother. Luke is seven and all trouble, apparently that's one genetic we all got.

I snag my backpack and locket sitting next to the bedroom door, before bounding down the stairs to the now clean kitchen. Mom and Dad sit across from each other; Mom looks over blueprints and pretends to not notice the cereal battle going on around her. With the milk gone Luke and Dad were forced to settle their differences other ways.

"Oh Annie you look wonderful!" Mom cries out as I trudge into the kitchen. I grimace and settle next to Lizzie in one of the non-crunchy chairs.

"Percy look at her she looks all grown up! Unlike you." She says swatting him with her blueprint.

"Yes very grown up." He says flipping another spoonful of cheerios across the table.

"Well to a savage, maybe." Mom says pointedly returning to her blue prints.

"Darling, that hurts." He says with a mock pained expression. I turn away to hide a grin.

"You're always a knock out Annie," Dad says. "You look like your mother."

A smile softens my mother's face; she's been tenser than normal these last few weeks. She has always been a little tightly wound, but she's been like a spring compressed for too long, sooner or later I think she'll explode.

There is a honk outside.

"That's my cue to go." I say scooting out of my seat and circling the table to dispense hugs. It takes me a minute to stuff books into my backpack and as I head for the door leaving the chaos of the morning behind, my dad gently grabs my shoulder. I turn with a questioning look; he wears a hesitant almost nervous expression.

"Is everything okay?" I ask lightly.

"Yeah I just… got a weird feeling." He says hesitantly. "Here take this it'll make me feel better."

He fishes in his pocket and pulls out his infamous ball point pen Riptide. A hard knot of dread settles in my stomach. Before I can ask what he thinks is going to happen, he closes my fingers over it and pats my hand.

"It's probably nothing, okay?" He says lightheartedly, but it's strained. "I know you'll be careful but this will make me feel better. If anything goes wrong use it, the same goes with your locket."

"Okay Dad." I say forcing a smile. "I love you."

He wraps me in a hug and a pang of dread shoots through me. I don't want to let go, but in that instant another honk sounds and he releases me.

"Be safe Andromeda." He says with a strained smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. I try not to dwell on it as I jog out to the Grace's silver four door SUV.

Hattie Grace is very excited to see me when I pulled open the side door of the silver SUV.

"Annie! How are you? I haven't seen you in forever! I think we have a few classes together…. Can you help me find someplace to sit at lunch? I don't know anyone and the mortals aren't the same as us…"

"Hattie." Jason said sternly from the front seat he turned to look back at us too quickly and his gold rimmed glasses slid down his nose. That was my favorite thing about him and Aunt Piper; they had this ease to them. Nothing really bothered them; they didn't worry about how they looked. Just like my own parents.

"Sorry dad." Hattie says sheepishly straightening her black t-shirt. Hattie was her mother's twin practically with long mahogany hair and lightly tanned skin, but she had her father's intense blue eyes.

"How are you Annie? I think you've gotten taller since I last saw you." Jason says with a kind smile that pulls the small scar on his top lip into view.

"I'm just peachy; yeah dad says I should try out for the basketball team." I stick my tongue out. "I think I'd be better off with a cavalry sword."

Jason chuckles and turns around in his seat. He drives out our long drive and out toward the highway. I try to get Hattie talking but she's a little on the tense side. She twitches in her seat nervously like she's ready to explode. I hope she doesn't get too nervous about school, she inherited her mother's legendary charmspeak abilities and I don't want her to knock me out on the first day.

The rest of the ride to school is uneventful but there is something in the air making me nervous. It's similar to the way a nearby monster feels, but it's different, more sickening it makes me feel lightheaded.

I am grateful to finally arrive at the school, which is a first. Hattie springs out of the car like she's been electrocuted.

"By dad love you!" Hattie says in a rush as she flies out of the car. She speed walks toward our school set high on a hill. I hesitate before closing the door.

"Mr. Grace," I say hesitantly, Hattie is waiting impatiently at the top of the stairs and I don't want her to be any more nervous. "My dad had a bad feeling this morning; he gave me Riptide when I left the house." Jason pales slightly. "I just wanted you to know, and I'll stay close to Hattie and make sure she's safe."

"Thank you Annie, both of you stay safe." Jason replies, I can tell he's worried as I close the door. I sling my black non-descript back backpack over my shoulder and jog to catch up with Hattie. I glance over my shoulder to see Jason slowly pulling away as other cars pull up behind him and honk.

I weave through the crowd in Hattie's wake. For being small Hattie has a big presence, one I don't think she's aware of, people part around her like water. I on the other hand have to shove my way through. Hattie is the fair maiden, I am her feral friend.

A guy turns to look at Hattie and slams into me.

"Hey! Watch it!" I snap shoving him away from me roughly. The guy glares at me and opens his mouth to say something, probably rude. It's fun to watch the words die on his lips when he meets my eye. Then he turns and scuttles off into the crowd, that's what I thought. I hate the rush of the students pushing their way around. I wish I could have gone to school in New Rome again, but I had volunteered to help scout for demi-gods in the city. Hattie and Jason had volunteered for the mission as well.

I know my dad wanted to help too, but with mom busy working in Olympus, someone was needed to watch the munchkins back at home. I am shaken out of these thoughts as the first bell rings and Hattie whimpers my name.

"Coming Hatter!" I call and charge through the crush of students. I barrel through like a bull; Hattie has a mild anxiety problem. Something she has trouble controlling in the mortal world. I worry about her, but I understand why she took the mission. She wrestled a mad hellhound into dust without help, but the idea of entering a school full of peers terrifies her. She has a need to prove herself and doesn't realize how strong she really is.

"Hats!" I grumble, as I stalk forward toward the entrance way. Finally I find her squished in the corner by the main entranceway. "Hattie don't leave me." I tell her quietly so that nobody else hears. "I got to keep watch over my men." I wink at her and her deer in the headlights look diminishes slightly.

"Come on sweetie let's get you to your first class."

The day passes uneventfully, I escort Hattie to as many classes as possible, but since she's younger we only get lunch together. I still have the dizzy sick monster feeling, but I can shove it to the back of mind so that I can focus on school. I have a solid B average that I want to keep. ADHD and slight dyslexia cause me some trouble. But both mom and dad have the same problems and my mom claims it is no reason to let grades slip. Typical.

I am grateful for the end of the day when I finally get to leave. Hattie has a kind of sixth sense when it comes to people, an Aphrodite thing apparently. She could sense things about people, pain and love in their past. Demi-gods usually had abnormalities with both. It was an early warning sign for potential demi-gods.

"I don't know if I can do this Annie…" Hattie mumbles from our perch on the retaining wall by the front entrance.

"Was it that bad?" I ask her gently.

She nods miserably. "I don't know why I have this… this… Curse!" her hands flutter as she searches for the right words to describe her feelings.

"I know it isn't easy on you…" I start to say, trying to find a way to comfort her. "But you're one of the bravest, strongest-"

The moment is lost as the manhole cover in the middle of the street flies off. The pointed angular face of a snake comes slithering out into the road. Its gold scales rasp against the sides of the cover letting out tiny sparks and a sound like nails on a chalk board. It coils its massive body in the middle of the street effectively blocking traffic.

_Crash! _

A small black hybrid crunches against the thick trunk of the serpent. A man with curly hair stumbles out of the driver's side door closely followed by a blond woman. They hit the ground wielding sticks as the snake reals back and strikes. The windshield explodes and I leap to my feet Riptide in my right hand and with my left I click my locket open. Water spills out of it running down my body and hardening to form translucent armor. The snake is very intent on the people from the car. The man pulls a bent sword out of thin air and slashes across the snake's snout as it strikes.

"HEY!" I yell vaulting over one of the snakes massive writhing coils. It turns toward me and a long barbed tongue rasps out of its mouth. It's eyes look they are filled with red and green Greek fire. Like evil Christmas.

The snake dives forward and strikes; I tuck and roll as it takes a minivan sized chunk of pavement where I was standing. It hisses revealing fangs almost as long as my body, a thick yellow liquid drips onto the pavement and steams where it hits the ground. The new hole in the ground behind me bubbles with the same stuff, probably acid. I dodge a few more strikes and stab and slash with Riptide. Nothing happens, except more acid pouring from the snake's wounds. As I cut and spin I am dimly aware of the man and the woman with the sticks arguing about something. The woman is crouched on the ground drawing, while the man covers her with the bent sword.

"You told me that would work!" The man shouts angrily.

"I said it had a high chance of success actually!" The woman shouts back.

_You've got to be kidding me._

That thought costs me and I as I move to dodge the next strike the snake catches me around the middle. The only thing keeping me from being crushed is my magic armor. The snake opens and closes its mouth trying to position me to eat I guess. The smell is awful, like rotting me and gasoline. The acid venom sizzles against my armor and I fight the urge to pass out. I brace my feet against the sides of its mouth to keep it from swallowing me. It continues to snap its jaws and finally one of its gold fang pierces the armor covering my left arm. I yelp and then gag on the stench of the snake. Somehow Riptide is still in my hand but I am stuck to the snake and trying not to get eaten and I can't get my arm untangled enough to use the sword. As I struggle I start to feel heavy. It must be something in the venom. I feel sleepy.

On the ground the people with sticks are yelling and things in a language I don't recognize, something explodes rather impressively over the snakes head. But it doesn't seem to notice, even when a massive blue fist hits it. It only sways slightly and goes back to trying to shake me into its gullet.

Then Hattie starts to sing.

She sings about the summer, about camp, about life and love. The snake goes rigid. She shocks me out of whatever spell the snake had and the full pain of my arm hits me. I somehow managed to keep ahold of Riptide and I get my feet on the snakes wide open bottom jaw. I kick up ignoring the pain in my arm and plunge the sword through the roof of its mouth.

The monster reels back and lets out a wailing hiss that makes my ears pop and shatters the glass in the windows all around the street. With a final hiss like the air getting let out of a balloon the snake dissolves into a big pile of sand. I land in the big snake castle with dull thud. The fang was shaken out of my arm thankfully and is laying on the ground next to me. I sit up groaning as Hattie comes running over followed by the man and the woman from the black car.

Hattie reaches me first she has a dagger in each hand and her clothes are smoking with spots of acid but otherwise she looks unharmed. I struggle to my feet. Riptide isn't anywhere near me, it's probably gone back to Dad by now. That'll make him feel great. My arm aches dully, but my water armor is already covering it and healing me.

Hattie studies me for a few moments.

"You're lucky you have me." She says with a lopsided grin.

"Yeah I know." I tell her with a grin.

"That was either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid." The blond woman says with a slight British accent when she reaches us. The curly haired man is close on her heels. On closer inspection they both are wearing what looks like baggy white karate uniforms. The fact that they saw the monster makes me really uncomfortable. It feels wrong. They feel wrong to me somehow.

"Who are you?" I ask warily, always the diplomat.

"Names have power child, you seem like one who would know that." The woman responds. Something about her tone makes me bristle. And right on cue a blue minivan screams around the corner, it spins once and rocks dangerously as it stops. My father bursts out Riptide in hand, he looks quite intimidating in pajama pants and a t-shirt that looks like Lizzy might have wiped her nose on.

The wind picks up a little and I feel the pressure drop. He's about to open a can of whoop ass on the strange new comers.

"Dad, I got it already," I grin lopsidedly. "should have gotten here on time."

His stormy look fades slowly and the wind dies down. He relaxes a fraction as he looks me over. I'm covered head to toe in a combination of monster dust and sand.

"What happened?" He asks cautiously coming closer. I edge closer, Hattie on my heels until it's the three of us facing down the weird karate freaks.

I relate the snake to him in a short hand without taking my eyes off of the man and woman. They both still hold what looks like a staff and a wand? I've never seen anything like it at camp or New Rome. My Dad hasn't taken his off of the man and he confused like he's remembering something, almost like deja-vu.

"Carter?" My dad asks cocking his head.

A blue rune glows on my father's hand and he gasps, though he seems more startled than hurt.

"Percy…" The man who I take is named Carter replies; he looks like he's seeing a ghost.

"Hang on a minute." I say. "What's going on? You know each other? Are you demi-gods from another Camp or something?"

Even as I ask the questions I know that I'm wrong.

"No Annie they're not from another camp." He says with a sigh. He sheaths Riptide and considers the man and woman before him carefully.

"We have things to discuss if I'm not mistaken." My dad smiles. "Burgers on me this time?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

We clear out just as the cops arrive. Hattie does something with the Mist that makes the police ignore us. I wonder what they they'll decide happened, probably a problem in the gas line. I don't have lots of time to dwell as I sit, cramped, in the back with Hattie. Dad seems to trust them so I try to relax. After all Lizzie and the snappy British woman who introduced herself as Sadie are having a tickle fight in the middle seat. Carter and my father are up front discussing something that I can't hear over the radio and the tickle fight.

Hattie and I exchange a look as Dad parks in front of a small diner that I don't recognize. We all pile out and I make a point to grab Lizzie before she get her hands on Sadie's wand. That's all we need, a magic toddler.

"No little one." I murmur kissing her cheek. Dad leads the way into the diner and we all cram into a small booth. Dad scoots to the end and I pass Lizzie to him and then slide in next. Hattie stays perched on the end of the booth like she's preparing to flee. Lizzie sits quietly on my Dad's lap and plays with a small piece of clay… or maybe wax.

"So…" Carter says uncomfortably. He has the edgy demi-god look to him, he fiddles with the silver wear the waitress brought, rolling and unrolling it, rolling and unrolling. I watch him transfixed for a while, as he and Sadie explain that they are descended from Egyptian Pharaohs, it sounds crazy but I don't doubt their story one bit. I'm a demi god thing after all. Dad shocks me to attention when he starts asking questions.

"So besides the giant snake that tried to eat my girl, what brings you to town?" My dad asks, like he's asking what's for dinner.

"Well Sadie and I were tracking the scaly friend of ours; it's not like anything we're used to dealing with…" Carter starts but is interrupted by his sister.

"It doesn't react to spells." She says dangerously. "It's not the first we've dealt with. We tried to keep it from eating your daughter but nothing was working."

"It didn't act Greek either.." I add slowly. Everyone looks at me intently; I sink about an inch lower in my seat. "It bled acid, if I hadn't had my armor I would have melted. And even then I would be dead if Hattie hadn't distracted it."

"When you stabbed it Sadie hit it with something." Hattie says quietly. "The red explosion thing."

"It's a combination…" My dad says going rigid. "Annie use the payphone and call your mother. She needs to know about this."

I take the change from my dad and scoot out past Hattie. I head to the payphone just outside the front door of the diner. I feel a shiver run down my spine but I ignore it and make the call.

"Hello?" My mom asks in her clipped professional voice.

"Hi, mom." My voice wobbles a little.

"Sweetie what's happened? Are you alright? What about Lizzie? I have Luke with me… And your father?" She asks sharply.

"Everyone's fine mom." I take a deep breath and relate the events of the last hour. I give her the address of the diner as well. She tells me she loves me and is on her way. I can't shake the feeling of being watched and I glance around the empty block one last time before heading back inside. Dad, true to his word, bought a round of cheeseburgers and fries for the table. Lizzie is blowing enthusiastic bubbles in her milk while my Dad questions the Kane's about the type of monsters we're dealing with.

"Mom's on her way." I tell them as I slide back into my place in the booth.

"Good, we'll need her smarts." Dad says and he relaxes a fraction. "I need to talk to everyone, Hattie you should call your parents as well." He starts fishing in his pocket again. I don't want to know why he has change in his pajama pants.

"I've got an emergency cell." Hattie tells him and wanders to the front of the store to make her call.

"You want to invite people to the party?" Dad asks the Kane's.

"We'll get in contact with the first Nome after we know more." Carter says.

As Hattie rejoins our table the door bangs open so violently that the welcome bell flies off the door and behind the counter. An eerie wail fills the near empty diner and everyone flies into action. Dad flips the table spilling the drinks and half eaten burgers across the floor. He tucks Lizzie on the floor between the booths, and uncaps Riptide in one motion. Carter pull his bent sword put of thin air, Sadie glows with a faint white light, I pop my locket open and yank a knife out of my backpack, and Hattie slides her twin knives out of her sleeves.

"LUKE!" My mother roars like a mother bear, charging in the dinner in her disheveled work clothes. "You. Do. Not. Sneak. Up. On. Soldiers."

And just like that Luke materializes by the table pulling our Mom's magic Yankees cap off his blond mop. He has his guilty troublemakers grin plastered to his face. He laughs a little and gives our dad a pleading look. Dad shrugs. He knows he's up shit creek. Everyone relaxes and I can tell the Kane's are trying not to laugh. Dad scoops Lizzie off the floor as Mom stalks into the restaurant like a lioness and snatches the Hat from Luke.

"Do you want your sister to be responsible for killing you?!" She growls. "Or your father?!"

"I'm sorry mommy." Luke says in a small voice.

"You'll be dealt with later." She says dangerously then smiles at us. "Hello everyone, I'm Annabeth."

Dad has this weird proud look that he's trying to conceal as he leans over the table wreckage and gives her a kiss. She starts talking to the Kane's while Hattie and I tip the table back up right.

"What happened?!" the waitress asks incredulously.

"We saw a spider." I tell her deadpan, dad kicks me lightly, but I can tell he's trying not to laugh. She gives me a deadly look before gathering the cups and retreating to the kitchen.

"I honestly wonder where your children get it." Sadie says mockingly to my dad who shrugs and ruffles my hair. We sandwich Luke in between me and Dad while mom take the seat next to Sadie.

"This is serious." My mother says seriously. Everyone at the table gets quiet and serious.

"What's been happening with your monsters?" My mom asks.

"Well the demons that we've been have been difficult to…" Sadie glances at the kids crawling on dad. "Deal with."

"It took me, Hattie, and Sadie to take down the snake at school." I tell her.

"Even then Annie almost ended up like a giant rat." Sadie says guiltily, she's lost people recently.

"What happened with that rogue magician you were looking into all those years ago?" Mom asks. "The man Seth? It started with an S I believe."

"Setne vanished." Carter says studying the intricately banded ring on his left ring finger. It looks like black and gold swirled together. "We had reason to believe that he was… um…" Luke is staring intently at Carter his gray eyes unblinking. "We think he met an unfortunate end."

"Well someone is continuing his work." Mom says, I can tell she's still edgy. "I couldn't dig up anything on Ptolemy at the time either. Then I had other priorities…"

"Understandable." Sadie's eyes go unfocused a little. "We did too."

The door opens a little more quietly this time and Piper and Jason enter.

"Trying to have a party without us?" Piper asks taking a seat on one of the bar stools and observing the remains of the lunch that was splattered across the floor.

"Hi I'm Piper, Hattie's mom. She told me a little about what was going on." Piper says smoothing her mahogany hair back into a ponytail. Jason leans against the counter next to her.

"I'm Jason." The Kane's and Grace's work through introductions and Mom relays the basic information of our crisis. The other diners are looking at us curiously. A burly biker guy wearing sunglasses and an older couple are the only other occupants of the small diner. But something about them makes me uncomfortable. Jason seems to pick up on them as well; he shoots them a few wary looks.

"Should we maybe move this party to a safer location?" Jason asks.

"Yeah that's probably a good idea." Dad says looking up at the other people with a frown. "Who's closest?"

Twenty minutes later we're all standing in the hall in front of my Gran's apartment.

"I can't believe we're having a war meeting at Gran's." I say trying not to laugh. She'll probably make us cookies to take with us into battle. Hattie tries to muffle her giggle on my shoulder but chokes on the left over monster dust.

"Hush." Dad says with a grin of his own. "Your grannie's hosted her fair share of strategy meetings. Mrs. O'Leary even spent an afternoon here."

"You're kidding right?" I ask, but he ignores me.

"Hey mom." My dad says with Lizzie dangling off of his shoulder like a deranged monkey. "Mind if we commandeer your kitchen table?"

She stands aside and we all file in.

"Oh Percy honestly..." She says rubbing her face. "Paul! We have company."

"Hi Gran!" I say brightly and kiss her on the cheek, she returns the gesture and Hattie and I sweep into the living room.

"Annabeth dear are you holding up alright?" Grandma asks looking my mom in the eye.

"Later Sally, I promise." She says with a tired smile.

"Alright dear." She releases her and then Luke gives her a hug and everyone else greets her with respectful ma'ams. They all stare at her like some kind of holy figure.

"Alright kids lets go make cookies." She says clapping her hands, she untangles Lizzie from dad's shirt that she had somehow managed to wiggle into. Then she leads the little ones into the kitchen, leaving us free to discuss everything that's been happening.

"Right," Sadie begins clapping her hands and settling on the small couch with Carter. Hattie and I take the floor while everyone settles on various chairs. Dad hauls chairs in from the kitchen. "We've had a growing problem with what you call "monsters", they look like our demons but they don't respond to any spells, we can't get any type of trap on them, and our weapons don't work." She puts air quotes around monsters. "The only success lately in getting rid of these things has been today, when Annie got half eaten."

"We think someone is cooking up a Greek, Egyptian hybridization again." Carter adds. "That's why none of the weapons worked until we combined forces."

"Do we send out a quest to deal with it?" Piper asks from her perch on the arm of Jason's chair. "I didn't think we could allow that without a prophecy from the oracle…"

"We can't…" Mom says, her eyes have gone distant and I can see the wheels turning in her head. "At least not an official one."

"We should talk to the Praetors and Chiron." Dad says carefully. "We need to at least see if we'll have support."

_Because everything we do is always so by the book. _But I don't say that out loud.

"Well that's all well and good for you." Sadie snaps. "We've lost too many good magicians and people in these last weeks. The ones that aren't dead instantly are lying dying from the venom these things have." She pulls back the collar of her shirt revealing a raw blistered mark. "We don't have magic armor, and the venom eats you alive. Some of these creatures have venom that victims don't feel. People are dying left and right and we can't do anything to stop it."

Carter puts a hand on his sister's and address's the group.

"Sadie's right, we can't afford to wait, we had a rogue griffin take out the infirmary at the beginning of the week and the attacks have been getting more violent by the day. Our forces are scattered and if we're going to make a move on whoever or whatever is causing this we need to move fast." His eyes cloud with pain. "Otherwise we need to organize a retreat, we have kids in our care and we have a duty to protect them."

"Percy and I will take the kids to Camp and speak to Chiron and the advisors there." Mom says. "Jason you contact Reyna and McKenna in New Rome, and if Hazel and Frank surface that would be great."

Hazel and Frank went on these wild adventures, they travelled the world destroying monsters and finding demi-gods. We sometimes wouldn't hear from them for months. Then one day they would show up out of the blue with a bus load of demi-gods, a few new scars, and fantastic stories.

"I think they are somewhere in the Caribbean, maybe visiting Nico, I'll contact him and see what he knows." Jason says slowly. "Frank and Hazel are bound to have heard something."

"Well if that's all we need to get back to our people and see if anyone's left." Sadie says snappishly. It seems to be her go to reaction.

"We'll call as soon as we have concrete information." My mom promises and she and Sadie exchange numbers.

Carter walks out on the fire escape to "call a ride" while Piper and Jason prepare to leave.

"I think I should go with Annie, we need to have someone who can charm the creatures on both sides." Hattie says with more confidence than she normally has. Piper looks unsure, but Jason nods.

"Be safe Hattie girl." He says giving her a hug. "Come on Pipes we have a quest to organize."

Piper gives Hattie a hug and then follows her husband out reluctantly.

"We'll watch out for her." Mom tells Piper giving her arm a quick squeeze, and then Hattie's parents are gone.

After a few minutes of waiting what sounds like a helicopter comes around over the fire escape. I peek out the window and catch my breath. A griffin is hovering over the fire escape with a make shift boat thing floating below it.

"FREAK!" the thing shrieks.

"As long as it doesn't eat anyone I don't want to know." Paul says emerging from the kitchen with Lizzie on his shoulders. I swear the child doesn't know she has legs.

"You probably don't want to know." Dad agrees taking Lizzie. The Kane's jump on the boat and vanish with a wistful wave.

Gran kisses us all and makes us promise to stay safe. Which we all do, Hattie crosses her fingers behind her back, but I don't say anything. Back down at the van I load Lizzie while Dad goes to the alley and does a ferocious taxi whistle.

"I think having you girls get to camp early to set up preparations would be a good thing." Dad says, and he climbs in the van, they decided to travel together and leave moms car at Gran's. "We'll wait until they arrive."

It doesn't take long; Blackjack and his new friend Falene come into view over the tops of the high skyscrapers. They gallop as they land and circle around us Falene paws anxiously and nudges Hattie.

_Hey kid. _Blackjack nickers butting his graying muzzle against my hand. _You're just like the boss, no donuts. _

"Hi Blackjack." I say with a smile rubbing his face. He was a friend of Dad's back in their adventuring days. Blackjack has a knobby white scar on his flank and the faint graying on the otherwise ink black coat. You would never know what he'd been through. "Mind giving us a ride to camp?"

_Anytime kid. _Blackjack nickers. I sling my leg over his back and Hattie does likewise on Falene and I salute my family as we take off and watch the van until it vanishes from sight below us. The Pegasi make short work of the journey to camp, somewhere in the distance there is a warning horn.

Blackjack and Falene drop us off in front of the big house. I have bittersweet memories in this house, planning to take down the romans in capture the flag. Then lying for days in Chiron's care after a bad run in with basilisk.

"Annie." Chiron says in surprise as he emerges on the porch in his full centaur form. "I don't this is a social call."

"Well you're right there, Mom, Dad, and the munchkins are on their way now." I tell him. "We have things to discuss."

While I wait for my family, I take Hattie with me, and we go to the armory. I want more weapons. Regardless of who goes questing I don't want to be vulnerable to the new monsters. Besides Hattie hasn't spent much time at Camp Half Blood. Her parents spent more time in New Rome after she was born and she only comes for short periods and for War Games.

"Hey Alec!" I say knocking on the door of the armory that is nestled behind the forge that the Hephaestus kids practically rule. "Have you had a chance to look at my sword?"

Alec pops up from behind a rack of spears with his giant black rimmed glasses halfway down his nose. We've been friends since I started coming to camp. He even came to our house for Christmas a few years ago.

"Yeah she's good as new." Alec says shoving his glasses up his nose. He was one of the smaller Hephaestus campers; I had a good three inches on him. "Gimme a second to find it…"

He disappears behind the racks and a few loud crashes later he reappears with my sword. He hands it to me hilt first and I breathe a sigh of relief. Being unarmed makes me nervous. My sword is similar to Dad's Riptide. Only it's made of the same silver as the hunters of Artemis'. I helped the goddess in a bit of trouble. Long story. But my sword was the result, and for Christmas last year Uncle Tyson fashioned it into a ring. He made me my armor as well and he made other various protective gear for my siblings.

"I had to consult Tyson on a few of the correct calibrations to get it to change on command better." Alec says with a grin. "I know it's hard for you, but try not to break it again. Fixing magic isn't exactly my specialty."

I run my finger from the tip of the blade to the hilt and it shrinks to a small plain ring that I slip on. I was trying to change the sword back when I had an unfortunate accident with Greek fire. The poor sword had an identity crisis and got stuck somewhere in the middle of its change.

"Its perfect," I say beaming. "Thank you."

"Anything for you Annie." He says with a wink. "But try to make it something easier to fix next time, eh?"

"I'll see what I can do."

"Good day Annie." He nods his head to me, and then Hattie who blushes. "And miss Hattie."

I take a peek in the Hades and the Apollo cabin on our way back to the Big House, but neither Nico or Will are there. It was wishful thinking, they teach classes over the summer. Otherwise they are at their beach house on a private island somewhere in the Caribbean. I still giggle imagining the pale, serious son of Hades parading around on the beach. He and Will are like day and night, literally, but they are quite cute together.

Hattie and get back to the Big House as Clarisse the wrestling coach arrives. The butch woman has a bandanna around her hair and is in deep conversation with Chiron. I catch snippets of what they are saying as we get closer.

"-Jackson's girl can handle herself in the field."

"I'm aware of that Clarisse, but both her father and I do not wish her fate on her too early. Percy wants to protect her from those horrors as long as possible."

"Which is pointless, the girl is ready and can handle herself better than he could-"

The break off and survey us awkwardly.

"Got your sword back I see." Clarisse says. "Didn't get rusty without me, did you?"

"No ma'am." I reply. She grunts in response.

"And you're beauty queens daughter." Clarisse says slowly. "Got any tricks up your sleeve?"

Hattie's twin knives slide out of her sleeves and she twirls one of them around her hand.

Clarisse grunts again.

"I'll go gather the rest of the council." Then she sprints off. Hattie sheaths her knives and elbow her.

"Show off."

She smiles and we follow Chiron in to get good seats at the ping pong table.


End file.
